Crescentfrost's Destiny 1: Silvermist's Prophecy
by jayxcrescent
Summary: A cat as dark as night, marked with the sign of the claw-shaped moon, shall be the one destined to decide the fate of our Clan. A terrible choice shall be made, but the death that will follow results in a victorious future for moons to come.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A pained yowl in the nursery split through the air. The blue-silver and white furred queen gasped as a spasm shook her body. _My kits! They're coming! _

The medicine cat, a lithe tom with a gray pelt, rushed in through the bramble entrance. He stroked her belly, and felt a double heartbeat. "You're doing fine, Silverwing. You have two kits." Silverwing gasped again, and a ripple passed through her body. "It's nearly time. The first kit will come any moment now." The medicine cat told her.

Another spasm grasped her, then a powerful ripple. A few heartbeats later, Silverwing tensed, and a dark bundle slid out onto the soft bedding of moss. The medicine cat grabbed it and gently dropped it at a light brown queen's paws. "Lick," he meowed briskly. The queen obeyed, and began warming the kit.

A third ripple passed down her body, and a second kit slid out. Its black shape was small and thin, and it looked very weak. Its mother gasped. "It feels so cold… and it's not breathing! Oh, Rainfall, is it dead?"

Rainfall quickly started rubbing its fur to warm it up. "Not if I can help it," he growled. After what seemed like moons, the tiny black kit let out a faint mew. Silverwing nudged her kits closer and they began to suckle.

"A tom and a she-cat," Rainfall announced. "Welcome to ThunderClan, young kits."

"They're beautiful," Silverwing purred.

"Can I see them?" a voice squeaked.

"Jaykit, get back here now!" a third queen, Jaykit's mother, meowed sternly. "Go outside and play with your littermates if you must, and give Silverwing's kits some peace."

Rainfall let out a _mrrow_ of laughter, and turned to Silverwing. "Have you chosen their names?" he mewed.

"The tom almost has the color of a sky after sundown and twilight. A bit like his father, Shadefur. I think I'll call him Duskkit. And the she-kit is almost entirely black, except that white tuft of fur above her eyes. If you look closely, it looks a little like the shrinking moon. This kit shall be known as… Crescentkit."

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><p>Frost sparkled on the rocks, the grass, and the trees. All was quiet outside the clearing, even the crickets and prey. A towering rock stood in the middle. Half rusty-red. Half gray-blue. At the foot of the rock, a starry golden cat emerged from a small cave. Faint sounds of steady breathing coming from bushes and bramble thickets indicated the presence of sleeping cats. The cat leaped up to the top of the rock. He closed his eyes and felt the wind ruffle his fur, enjoying the peace and calm of the night under the crescent moon. A few heartbeats later, a beautiful silver she-cat climbed up to join him.<p>

"Is something bothering you?" she inquired.

The golden tom shook his head. "Just enjoying the peace and quiet here."

The silver cat tipped her head to one side, her gaze questioning. "It's not like you to just come out here in the middle of the night. You can enjoy yourself in your own den. So, what's the problem? I'm your medicine cat; I can _help_ you."

The tom sighed. "It seems so… safe here. Yet we found two of our warriors dead in a quarter moon, lying in a pool of their own blood, deep gashes in their throats. We're having more trouble with the Place of No Stars than ever thought possible. I thought these borders were_ safe_. I was always taught as a kit and apprentice that it is nearly impossible for _anyone_, even StarClan, to find our hunting grounds, and that no cat stumbles upon this place twice. Was that not true?"

The medicine cat laid her tail on the tom's flank reassuringly. "I'm sure it's true, however, the Dark Forest cats seem to have found a way around our borders. But we'll find a way to fix it, I am sure. Were you planning to visit the Cave of Blazing Ice for guidance?"

"Perhaps I should. Many more of us will be lost to the Dark Forest if we don't act soon," the leader meowed in defeat.

The silver she-cat did not reply instantly. She looked up at the stars with a sigh. Suddenly, she gasped.

"What is it?" the golden cat hissed, startled. "Do you scent intruders?"

"It's a sign from our ancestors…" the medicine cat whispered. "Do you see the moon? There seems to be stars around it, in the shape of a cat's head. It towers high, directly over our forest, like a Clan leader looking down on his Clan from the top of the Sun-moon Rock. But the moon is tainted with blood. Wait... the stars seem to be glowing brighter! And the blood is washed away, and though the sky becomes darker, the moon shines as white as ever, if not more…"

"What does it mean?" the tom leaned in closer, his mew barely audible.

The silver medicine cat closed her eyes. "_A cat as dark as night, marked with the sign of the claw-shaped moon, shall be the one destined to decide the fate of our Clan. A terrible choice shall be made, but the death that will follow results in a victorious future for moons to come_."

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><p><strong>Okay it's just a coincidence that the medicine cat and Crescentkit's mother's names both begin with 'Silver'. That wasn't intentional<strong>


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors**

**I'm going to try to give the characters personality now (though I might have done it with Silvermist a little, or not). Crescentkit's is pretty obvious, since it's her POV. Don't worry, though. She's not staying like this forever, just as a kit, maybe apprentice. Also, I'll try not to make Crescentkit sound too much like Scourge... or Hollyleaf.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Crescentkit woke up to the sound of her brother's mew. "Come on! You promised me that you'd play with me at sunhigh." Duskkit prodded her sharply in the side.

"Ow!" she grumbled. "Okay! I'm coming!" _Why does Duskkit have to be such an annoying furball all the time?_

As she made her way to the nursery entrance, blinking sleep from her eyes, something gray crashed into her. _Stonekit! He just _has_ to be so clumsy! I can't go from my nest to the bramble entrance without Stonekit or Stormkit knocking me down. At least Jaykit isn't as mouse-brained as his littermates_.

"Stonekit! Watch where you're going!" Grayflight, Stonekit's mother scolded. Crescentkit heard her mutter to herself, "It's about time those three were apprenticed. They're crowding the nursey."

"Well then, you've got to wait a moon. We're only five moons old!" Stonekit retorted, overhearing his mother.

Grayflight turned to Crescentkit. "Are you hurt?" she asked gently. Crescentkit shook her head.

"Of course she's not hurt," Stonekit mewed. "I didn't crash into her that hard. She's just too small."

Crescentkit felt her fur begin to bristle. _Why does everyone have to tell me that I'm so small? Everyone except Silverwing and Jaykit. _She sniffed and walked away. As she went outside, thankfully untouched this time, she heard Sandfur, another nursery queen, meow, "Stonekit, be nice to Crescentkit. It's not her fault about her size." Crescentkit scowled.

She found Duskkit impatiently pacing around. When he saw Crescentkit, he padded over to her. "What in the name of StarClan took you so long?" he demanded.

"Stonekit," she muttered.

"Oh, I see," her brother meowed. "Hey, I know!" Duskkit mewed suddenly, brightening. "Let's go explore the territory!"

"Shadefur's already showed us the whole camp." Crescentkit told him.

"No, mouse-brain!" Duskkit meowed excitedly. He lowered his voice. "Let's sneak out of camp and take a look around! Then we'll come back without anyone noticing."

"What? Are you mad? We're not supposed to be out of camp until we're apprentices!" she exclaimed, shocked that her brother could have such a mouse-brained idea.

"Please!" Duskkit insisted. "Nobody will know. And we could catch some prey and go on little adventures, and see the borders."

Crescentkit hesitated. _It _does_ sound fun! If I wait until I'm apprenticed to go see the territory, I'll be bored waiting_ forever_!_ "Okay, let's go!" she mewed excitedly.

Her brother's eyes lit up. "Really? Wow, that's great! Thanks! I promise I'll protect you if there's danger." Crescentkit rolled her eyes. _Does _he_ even think I can't look after myself? _But she followed Duskkit as he headed towards the gorse tunnel.

"Duskkit?" Crescentkit meowed. "Shouldn't we go through the dirtplace, so we won't get caught?"

"What? Oh, right." Duskkit licked his chest fur to cover his embarrassment. He turn around and headed for the dirtplace tunnel.

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><p>"Wow! I never thought ThunderClan was so huge!" Duskkit exclaimed. They were at the top of the ravine, scanning the entire landscape. "I feel as if i can see the entire world from here."<p>

Crescentkit nodded. "And look! That must be the Great Sycamore Littlepaw was talking about. It's so big, compared to the other trees." She pointed with her tail. "And that long strip of black stuff... Duskkit, could that be the Thunderpath?"

"I think so," her brother mewed. "And that's the Twolegplace. Look at those trees! They look... different. Crescentkit, come look at this! You can see the camp from here!"

Crescentkit cautiously padded up beside her brother. "Look, there's the nursery, and the Highrock! And all the warriors' den..."

"We'll be sleeping there one day." Duskkit promised. "And one day after that, I'll be known as Duskstar, the great leader of ThunderClan!"

Crescentkit twiched her whiskers in amusment. "You wish! Not before I'm leader!" She flicked her tail over his ear tips playfully. Then she asked, "Do you think we should be getting back to camp by now?"

Duskkit looked disappointed, but he mewed, "Fine, but I want to catch something first." He lead the way back down the rocks. At the bottom, he paused, searching for the scent of any prey, Crescentkit figured. Not to be outdone, she opened her mouth, letting different scents touch her scent glands. After a while, Crescentkit picked up a strong scent of blackbird, but Duskkit was already creeping towards it. When he was within a few tail-lengths from it, he pounced, but his movements were clumsy and alerted the blackbird. It let out a loud alarm call and flew off, settling on a low branch, just out of reach.

"Mouse-dung!" Duskkit spat.

"Come on, let's go back," Crescentkit mewed.

They had almost made the to the gorse tunnel when Crescentkit heard a low growl. She whipped around, and met a reddish creature, somewhat like a cross between a cat and a dog. Its eyes gleamed hungrily at Crescentkit and her littermate, and it parted its jaws to reveal huge yellow teeth. The creature's foul breath flooded her mouth, and she gagged.

"Fox!" she screeched, but Duskkit was already fleeing in terror, losing all sense of direction in his panic. _No! The tunnel is that way! We'll be safe if we reach it! _Then Crescentkit noticed bramble bushes blocking off the path two or three tree-lengths in front of Duskkit_. Oh, StarClan, no... please don't let the fox get him! It can't all end here! _

Duskkit scrambled to a halt, looking wildly around for a gap to squeeze through. But bramble thickets were all around; there was no escape.

He was trapped.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors**

**Sorry for the confusing stuff, but this happens often on Warriors fanfics. Thanks to the Prologue, Ch. 1 is labeled as Chapter 2 with the name Chapter 1, Ch. 2 is Chapter 3, and so on. The Prologue is Chapter 1.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

"No!" Crescentkit yowled. "Come here, you crow-food-eating mange-pelt. Leave my brother alone!" She continued to taunt the fox, although knowing it couldn't understand her, Crescentkit hoped she could distract it long enough for Duskkit to escape. The fox whipped around and growled. Crescentkit crouched, teeth bared, ready to dodge to one side if the fox pounced. Suddenly, the fox turned away from her, and leaped at Duskkit, who was skirting around the fox to escape. "Duskkit!" she screamed.

Then a movement from the edge of the bramble thickets caught her eye. Crescentkit watched, amazed, as two cats leaped from either side onto the fox. It yelped in alarm as it was knocked over from the weight of the cats. Seizing the chance, Duskkit scrambled to his paws and fled past Crescentkit into the safety of the gorse tunnel.

Meanwhile, the fox had recovered from the shock and was snapping at its attackers, whom Crescentkit had a clear look at for the first time. She had thought that they were two of her Clanmates, but as an unfamiliar scent, mingled with fox and blood, touched her nose, she realized that they were rouges. One was a tortoiseshell she-cat, and the other one was a dark gray tom.

Crescentkit felt her neck fur rise. _What are they doing here in my territory? They completely ignored the scent markers!_ Finally the two rouges had the fox down in defeat. It turned tail and fled, but the rouges chased it down and bit down on its neck. The fox fell over, twitching and going through spasms. _Why are they killing the fox? Great, now we'll have that dead thing in our territory. _One of the cats raised his paw and struck the killing blow; the fox let out a single choking sound, then laid still.

The rouges licked their paws, obviously not bothered that they just killed a fox. _A warrior does not need to kill to win their battles!_ Crescentkit thought. Suddenly the tortoiseshell turned to face her. "You're lucky that we were here to save your whiskers!" she hissed. "You would have been road-kill by now, you mouse-brained kit!"

Crescentkit fluffed out her fur. Before she could meow an angry retort, the gray tom added, "What are you doing here anyway? Didn't your mother ever teach you and your littermate to stay away from here? This is _our_ territory, kit. There are more cats beyond those brambles. I don't want to see you here anymore. We rule the Twolegplace, and we'll have the forest if we want to."

Anger surged through Crescentkit. _How dare they? This is ThunderClan territory! _But she forced her voice to remain calm. _I have to let them know what Clan cats are capable of. I don't care if I'm only two moons old. _"Then stay at your Twolegplace. The forest belongs to the Clans, and no other cat." She took a step forward. The rouges let out threatening growls, but Crescentkit went on. "I may only be a kit now, but I'll grow up to be a warrior. Clans live by the warrior code. It's been like that for countless seasons. Do you think a couple of Twolegplace cats can change that?"

The tortoiseshell spat. "Then tell your _Clan_ that it's time for them to leave, or we'll kill them off one at a time, starting with the kits," she added threatening, eyes narrowed.

_That's just the opposite of what the warrior code says! _Then she shook herself. These cats knew nothing about the warrior code or StarClan. They were just a bunch of rouges from Twolegplace. "The Clans have lived here for moons upon moons. We look up to StarClan, our warrior ancestors, to guide us. Warriors do not kill to win their battles, but that makes us no less fierce when it comes to defending our borders!" she hissed.

"Oh, we're _so_ scared," the tom mewed sarcastically. "Dead cats! In the sky! Nonsense. A tale for kits! Maple, do you think we ought to teach this kit a lesson?"

"Oh, yes. We killed a fox; we can do the same for you!" Without warning Maple lashed out with her forepaws. Searing pain shot through Crescentkit as the tortoiseshell she-cat slashed at her throat. Maple pinned her down; Crescentkit was feebly attempting to scratch at her with her hind paws, but her energy was ebbing away as she struggled to breath. She was faintly aware of the dark-gray tom watching her with a cold look of contempt. The world grew darker and darker, and just as Crescentkit thought the sunlight would vanish forever, Maple's weight disappeared.

"I think it would be best for all of us if you let her go."

_Hailstorm! Thank StarClan…_ The forest switched in and out of focus. Crescentkit felt herself being carried back to camp, and everything went black.

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><p>She was standing in an unknown dark place, filled with sharp rocks jutting out of the ground and dead, black trees. Mist swirled around her, and the cold night air made her shudder. Crescentkit looked up. She couldn't see any warriors of StarClan, and she felt alone and afraid. She heard faint whispers, but couldn't make out what they meant. The whispering gradually grew louder, though Crescentkit still could not hear what they were saying.<p>

Then, a soft voice drifted right next to Crescentkit's ear, and she jumped.

… _A terrible choice… death…_

Suddenly Crescentkit felt as if she were being watched by many hostile eyes. She felt cold, as if ice were slowly creeping up her blood. Claws pricked her spine. She wanted to turn tail and run, but her paws were frozen to the ground. Ice pricked at her heart, and she felt a strange force slide out her claws. To Crescentkit's horror, they were bloodstained and appeared to be made out of ice.

"No…" she whispered, and darkness engulfed her.

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><p>"Crescentkit, can you hear me?" The mew sounded strangely distorted to her.<p>

_Where am I?_ Crescentkit wondered. "Am I dead? Is this StarClan?" she murmured groggily.

"No, you're fine," the voice meowed soothingly. "You are in ThunderClan, and I've fixed your wound."

Then Crescentkit recognized the scent of herbs mingled with that of a familiar cat's. "Rainfall?" She felt a tail lie on her flank, and felt calmed. But suddenly, she was aware of the pain in her throat. Memory rushed back to her: Duskkit and her slipping out of camp, climbing to the top of the ravine, scaring away the blackbird, the fox, Maple's claws running across the throat… she gasped in horror as she remembered the dream. It had seemed way too real. "Darkness! Terrible darkness! And ice and evil and blood and death…"

Rainfall looked down, worried. "You had a bad dream, that's all." He leaned in closer. "If it helps you, you can tell me what you dreamed of. Maybe I can figure something out."

She blinked at the medicine cat. "Thanks." She told him about the dark place, and the whispers. "And then I heard this one voice say something about 'a terrible choice' and death. Then I felt ice, this cold…" she described how her blood seemed to freeze, and the bloody ice-claws.

Rainfall looked thoughtful. But he said, "It was just a bad dream. Don't worry about it."

"What about Duskkit?" Crescentkit demanded. "What about those rouges?"

"Duskkit is safe. He was the one who alerted the patrol to rescue you, you know. He ran into camp yowling about a fox and two strange cats. Hailstorm lead the patrol out of camp and found the rouges hurting you." Rainfall flicked his ears. "He dealt with them. They said they were only passing, and Hailstorm sent them back to the Twolegplace."

_Only passing! They wanted to take over the forest!_ She wondered if she should tell Snowstar about that. Perhaps Maple and her partner were only bluffing, trying to scare her.

_Keep it to yourself! _A voice hissed in her ear. _This is your own battle and your battle alone. No other cats'. _

_But I don't want to fight yet! I'm not even an apprentice yet_, Crescentkit protested. She didn't know who or what the whisper belonged to, but she felt fear prickling beneath her pelt.

_Who are you and what do you want with me?_

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><p><strong>Whoops I guess I made Crescentkit sound a little older than she actually is when she was talking to the two rouges. Heh, my bad. But, whatever I'm not gonna change it. Also I got Maple from Mapleshade even though they aren't really connected in anyway. <strong>


End file.
